May 14 2009
How to Have Peace Amid the Storm
How can we as believers have peace amid the terrible storms that are quickly approaching? Jesus is the only place of peace and rest for us. Now this doesn’t mean we should idly sit back, and just let it all happen. We must do what we can to stand for righteousness, but not fret if it doesn’t go our way. God is sovereign, no matter what it looks like. And even amid judgment we will see the hand of God working on our behalf if we belong to Him, turning around for our good what the devil means for our harm.
We certainly won’t find peace or rest in “chariots or horses,” money or men of power or influence or in any of the other places we seek it.
We’ve all heard this for years–that we could have peace by drawing near to God, and yet most of us haven’t had to avail ourselves of the Shelter of God’s love in ways others of our Christian brothers have. The thing is, His peace isn’t something we can pull from midair, nor can we get it from any other source. Apart from dwelling in and practicing His presence in that secret place, we will never find peace, because He is our peace.
I used to wonder how I would hold onto my faith under duress, but the Lord showed me that if He is everything to me, if I have given Him first place, making Him the reason I live, He has the keeping power to protect me under the umbrella of His Spirit. Scripture repeatedly reminds us that “nothing is impossible for God.” But do we really believe that?
The thing is, for us to trust, we have to give up all control, submitting to His leadership, letting His timing be okay, and then choosing to believe He will work it all out.
And if you’ve been living in the power of His Spirit for any length of time, you’ve seen Him address situations where you had no clue what would happen next pr how He would pull off a win. Yet He’s come through every time. He’s been faithful to see us through every up and down life and the devil could throw at us. A written or mental review of those times will be a great faith-builder when we struggle with fear and doubt.
We serve an amazing God, one who knows the beginning from the end, one who can keep us “in perfect peace, because his mind is fixed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.”
More than any time in the past, it’s time to draw near to God, to enter into that secret place, to dump all our heartaches and fears at His feet, and let go of the things we can’t control, becaue He will make beauty from our ashes. And in that secret place behind the throne of God, you and I can crawl up on our Father’s lap and rest and sleep in peace against His breast, listening to the comforting sound of His heart beating, just for us.
Draw near and find your place of peace.
Because of His great love,
Nancy
